2008 Alaska Park Science Symposium
October 14, 2008
Impacts of Climate Change on Muskox Genetics: DNA from Bones Preserved in Permafrost on Alaska's North Slope
Pamela Groves1, Daniel Mann2, Michael Kunz3
1Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, 902 Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, Phone 474-7165, Fax 474-6967, pam.groves@uaf.edu
2Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, 902 Koyukuk Dr., Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, d.mann@uaf.edu
3Arctic District, Bureau of Land Management, 1150 University Ave., Fairbanks, AK, 99709, USA, Phone 474-2311, Mike_Kunz@ak.blm.gov
The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is one of the few megafauna species that inhabited Beringia during the Pleistocene and is still living there today. The many generations of muskoxen left behind numerous bones many of which were incorporated in the permafrost after the animals died. In this study, we use DNA extracted from old muskox bones to investigate patterns of genetic change during the late Pleistocene. Understanding the timing of development of low genetic diversity in muskoxen will be helpful in predicting the significance of diversity in other species as they encounter climate change.
We collected muskox bones from several river drainages in northwest Alaska. The skulls of muskox males as well as muskox metatarsal and metacarpal bones are particularly sturdy and withstand the rigors of repeated reworkings in river sediments and are among the most common bones found along the rivers surveyed. We obtained C14 AMS dates on 62 of these bones which range from infinite dates (past the upper limit of C14 dating ~ 40,000 years BP) to 226 years BP. The ages of the bones are heavily skewed toward infinite with only 11 of the bones yielding finite dates. We generated 634 base pairs of sequence data from the mitochondrial DNA control region for 38 ancient muskox individuals. As with modern muskoxen, genetic variation among the samples is limited. Bayesian analysis of the sequences suggests a temporal pattern of genetic change that may be the result of population turnover events related to periods of environmental change.
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